


Rules

by Wingstar102



Series: Werewolf AU [2]
Category: NCIS
Genre: Alternate Universe - Werewolf, Biting, Blood, Extreme Amount Of Ficlets, Fluff, Lost My Damn Mind, Making This Up As I Go, Minor Violence, Multi, Need To Stop Doing This Kind Of Shit, Pack Dynamics, Prompt-Inspired, Romance, Sexual Content, Shapeshifting, Snark, Were-Creatures
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-06
Updated: 2012-09-21
Packaged: 2017-11-13 16:03:49
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 51
Words: 18,309
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/505274
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wingstar102/pseuds/Wingstar102
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's amazing how a Werewolf can take common sense, and categorize it to blend with his instincts.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Rule One

**Author's Note:**

> Idea came to me from the prompt over on LJ's comment_fic: NCIS, Ensemble, AU. How Gibbs' Rules would look if everyone was a werewolf (Werewolf!AU).
> 
> This isn't quite that, but it's what inspired this. Enjoy!

_~~~  
_

_Rule One: Never let suspects stay together. Never screw over your partner._

* * *

Tim felt the insane urge to roll his eyes. Jethro, the team Alpha, was once again on a tear through the team, trying to get them all to worker _faster_. Which didn't quite make sense to Tim. They had the suspects in custody downstairs.

Only thing he could figure was that Jethro's wolf instincts were telling him something was missing. Some danger that had been missed and needed to be found. Plus, Tony had said the suspects smelled like lies. He did what he could to speed things up, but just kept hitting dead ends. Until Jethro stepped in front of his desk.

"McGee, want your help."

Jumping up out of his chair, Tim hustled half a pace behind his Alpha, trying not at agitate him further because he didn't snap-to fast enough. Followed all the way down to the interrogation rooms. Stopping in front of the middle one, Jethro jerked his head towards the door. "You grab one, I'll grab another. Leave the third to stew."

"Sure. Why though?"

"Rule number one, Tim." Jethro's eyes crinkled when he flashed him that tiny, lopsided grin.

Tim tilted his head a little, a habit he shared with his wolf. "I thought that was never screw over your partner?"

"Or your mate." Jethro crowded him against the wall for a moment, nuzzling the line of his throat and taking in Tim's scent. "Good thing you're both to me. But that's personal." He chuckled into the soft skin before pulling away. "The work rule is never let suspects stay together."

Tim rubbed his cheek against Jethro's as they separated. "Let's split them up then Boss."

* * *

End


	2. Rule Two

_Rule Two: Always wear gloves at a crime scene._

* * *

Soft cinnamon brown fur gave way to smooth and pale skin, bones twisting shape, paws giving away to hands and feet. Tim stood and gave his head a little shake to clear it before touching the walkie that had been hung around his neck. "I found her guys, half a mile north, north west from the road. Bring me some clothes too, please?"

"On my way Tim. Just stand still." Tony's voice sounded more amused than Tim thought it should. Probably because he was standing in the middle of a field, naked, after his boss and mate told him to scent out the corpse of a murdered petty officer's wife. This was not going to be good for his image, he just knew it.

Only a few minutes went by before Tim's sensitive ears picked up his teammate crashing through the bushes and trees. For a cougar shifter, Tony was really loud. He really wasn't expecting the wolf-whistle though. "Damn Probie! Boss should count himself lucky that I got Abby, or I just might want a piece of you."

"Shut up Tony and give me my clothes." He snatched them from Tony and hurried behind a nearby tree long enough to dress. "Where's Gibbs?"

Laughing a little, Tony said, "Boss didn't think it was a good idea to be around his naked mate when we're supposed to be working a crime scene. You know how little control Timber wolves have over mating urges."

Tim chuckled too. "True. Call him and Ziva over and give me some gloves."

"Kinda reminds me of Rule number Two." When Tim gave him a raised eyebrow in response, he elaborated. "You know it says to always wear gloves at a crime scene, right?" Tim nodded. "Well it _should_ say gloves and clothes. Makes more sense for those that have mates on the same team."

He gave a snort. "It's a forgone conclusion. I really don't want Jethro ripping peoples eyes out because I was walking around undressed at a scene."

Jethro and Ziva walked up to find an exasperated Tim and Tony letting loose a belly laugh. Neither told them what was funny.

* * *

End


	3. Rule Three

_Rule Three: Don't believe what you're told, always double check. Never be unreachable._

* * *

Panting as the back of his head gave a thunk when it the wall, Tim huffed a breathless chuckle. He should have known this was coming. Really. Especially when he knew Jethro saw that legal intern get grabby with him. He firmly told the intern he was mated and not going to give him the time of day.

Regardless, Jethro had snatched him up and whisked him into an empty office, before backing him against the wall, lifting him up and sliding into Tim, who was still loose enough from a morning bout of love-making. His mate always seem to think that sex was the best way to make sure Tim was always marked by him. Tim didn't disagree.

A nip to his earlobe then neck brought his attention back to Jethro. With Tim's thighs over his forearms and ass in his hands made it easy for Jethro to spread him wider and give him a deeper thrust. "You belong to me. _I_ will deal with anyone who thinks otherwise." He gave Tim a proper bite to emphasize his point.

Tim was almost crawling up the wall from pleasure when, of course, Jethro's phone had to ring. Groaning from another hard thrust, Tim asked, "You gonna get that?"

Jethro gave a grunt and ignored the phone, instead giving Tim a bite to his collar bone. Gasping, he added, "Breaking Rule Three. We're unreachable."

Speeding up seemed to be the only reply for a moment, until, "Rule Five. And I'm _not_ wasting this kinda good."

He chuckled again and Jethro growled. The argument had merit, he had to admit.

* * *

End


	4. Rule Four

_Rule Four: Best way to keep a secret? Keep it to yourself. Second best way? Tell one other person, if you must. There is no third best._

* * *

"Oh, please, _please_ can I tell Gibbs?" Abby gave a little bounce and clasped her hands together in front of her chest. "Please? Or can I at least be there when you show him? I want to see the look on his face when-"

Tim shook is head in fond exasperation. This isn't quite what he expected when he came down to Abby's lab to tell her about the surprise he had set up for his mate, Jethro. Just so he wouldn't burst from not saying anything to anyone. So he'd headed down to share the secret with one of his closest friends, because she was good at keeping secrets. Now he was wishing he'd kept it to himself. "Rule Four Abbs. Can't be a secret if you tell."

Shaking her head, she said, "Well, then you shouldn't have told me."

"Still. Please don't tell him yet. He'll find out as soon as-"

Tim cut himself off when he heard Jethro's quick footsteps in the hallway, heading toward the lab. "Who'll find out what, McGee?" Abby grinned when Tim shot her a fast look that pleaded for her silence.

"Nothing, Boss. Just discussing a surprise for a mutual friend." He slowly started inching his way to the door, but Jethro caught his arm as he passed.

The piercing look Jethro gave him almost made his knees weak. Almost. "Can you tell me?"

Leaning in a little, Tim rubbed is cheek against Jethro's for a moment. "Rule Four." Jethro gave a small grunt in acknowledgement and Abby's delighted chuckle followed him out of the door.

* * *

End


	5. Rule Five

_Rule Five: You don't waste good._

* * *

 

Jethro approached Tim from behind, using the bustle of the bull pen around them to cover the sound of his footsteps from Tim's sharp wolf hearing. Pausing for just a moment behind Tim, he leaned in close a deep breath of the scent of Tim's hair. His mate smelled delicious.

Turning his head to the side to look at Jethro, he smiled. "What's up Boss?"

"Drug raid at a barracks room at Quantico. Need you to pull all the camera feeds you can find around there and see if you can come up with suspects." He casually handed the file to his mate before taking in Tim's scent again and stepping away a little. "We know the drugs are coming out of there, we just don't know who."

Tim quickly flipped through the file. "Why didn't you hand this over to Cyber Crimes? They could do this just as well as I can."

Jethro flashed a quick smile. "I got the best computer geek around. And you're faster. Rule five McGee."

"Is that so?"

He gently tapped the back of Tim's head. "Yeah. That's why I let you in the field too. Otherwise I'd keep you chained to the desk doing computer work so that you're not in harm's way." Jethro ducked in for a quick kiss and rubbed his cheek along Tim's, adding as he walked away from his smiling mate, "Too damn good of a field agent to leave you safe in the office, as much as I don't like you being out there."

Tim gave him his brightest smile. "Love you too, Boss."

* * *

End


	6. Rule Six

_Rule Six: Don't ever let anybody take your gun._

* * *

 

To Tim, it almost seemed like Jethro's furious footsteps reverberated around and through him. And oh, was Jethro angry. Tim could smell it on his mate, like he could with the sawdust even after it was washed off of skin. Could smell the bitter tang of Jethro's fear too.

After what happened today, Tim wasn't surprised.

Still, the bite in his Alpha and Boss' tone made him a little wary but not afraid that Jethro would hurt him. "McGee. Come on." Jethro didn't even look at him as he whisked Tim in the elevator and hit the stop switch. Immediately he was in Tim's space. "What the hell were you thinking Tim?"

"I-I-" He didn't know what to say. He hadn't even seen the suspect coming at him at the warehouse earlier in the day, until they were wrestling for Tim's gun. He'd gone with his instincts and let go of the gun, pushing the man as hard as he could. Didn't help that the man was a stronger shifter either, so he recovered himself before Tim got the chance to shift and run.

Jethro wasn't pleased to find his mate at gunpoint. He took it out on the suspect, knocking him out in one punch. And the angry silence on the way back to the Yard made Tim want to show his belly in submission. He refrained, since he knew that his mate wouldn't like that.

The frantic lips smashing into his brought him back to the present. Tim kissed back, trying to express his apology in the only way Jethro would accept it. He thought it worked when his mate pushed him into the wall, still kissing, arms winding around his waist.

"Didn't I teach you Rule Six?" Jethro's voice was gravelly and Tim could almost feel the wolf move restlessly under his lover's skin while Jethro started kissing his jaw. And yeah, Tim knew he was about to get pounded into the always happened when Jethro thought Tim had stupidly put his life in danger. Re-staking his claim and his dominance. Tim couldn't wait. He could almost feel Jethro's teeth sinking in, marking him, and he couldn't _wait_...

Tim gasped when Jethro nipped his collarbone, the tease. "Rule Six, my mate?"

A nip to the hollow of Tim's throat got him to make a soft moan before Jethro looked Tim in the eyes and started unbuttoning his shirt. "Yeah. Never let anyone take your gun." Jethro ducked down to flick one of Tim's newly exposed nipples with the tip of his tongue. "You hear me, my mate?"

"Yes," Tim hissed. He was sure that by the time they left the elevator, Jethro will have made sure that it was a Rule that Tim would never forget.

* * *

End


	7. Rule Seven

_Rule Seven: Always be specific when you lie._

* * *

 

It started not too long after rescuing Ziva. He'd come down from giving Vance the weekly briefing and she'd have disappeared. Tony always seemed to be coming from somewhere else, so he couldn't tell Jethro where she went. His mate knew. Tim was at his desk at about the same time Jethro figured Ziva would leave.

And, when asked, his _mate_ would lie to him.

They were always vague answers. "She went to a dentist appointment." Or, "Ziva had to go pick up some files from Norfolk." The best one almost made him laugh. "Um, well Jethro, I think she ran off to meet someone. You know, for some afternoon delight." The deep scarlet that touched Tim's ears, neck and face -and much lower, he'd bet- was just sinfully sexy enough to let it slide. Almost.

He wasn't going to let Tim _or_ Ziva off the hook for this act any longer though. Not even to see if Tim could top the last vague explanation with something even more explicit.

"Ok Tim, where is she, really."

His mate looked up at him with those guileless, supernaturally green eyes and opened his mouth to lie. Jethro chuckled.

"Don't bother to lie to me. Even if you could lie convincingly, I can still smell it on you."

Tim sighed. "What gave it away?"

Jethro leaned closer, close enough to rub his cheek against Tim's forehead and hair, which he did. "Besides smelling it on you? You forgot about Rule Seven." Rubbing against Tim's hair one last time to appease his inner wolf, Jethro pulled back so he could watch the puzzlement lift from his mate's eyes.

"Damn it. I hate that Rule. I can never remember it when I'm lying."

"So what's she really doing?"

Tim leaned a little closer, taking a quick glance around and cocking his head a little to listen for anyone before speaking in a whisper. "You can't say anything. Promise?" He waited for Jethro to nod before continuing. "She's going to therapy for the trauma from Somalia." He leaned a bit closer to his mate. "Ziva didn't want you to know. Thought you'd be upset about it. Please don't say anything."

Leaning in again, Jethro gave Tim a quick and chaste kiss. "Won't hear nothing about it from me. Promise."

Flashing each other a grin, Tim went back to paperwork and Jethro wandered back to his desk. He wasn't going to give her problems about slipping out anymore.

* * *

End


	8. Rule Eight

_Rule Eight: Never take anything for granted._

* * *

 

Shutting the door behind them, Tim quickly moved into Jethro's open arms and kissed him for all he was worth.

It had been too long of a day. Jethro had slipped out of bed at the crack of dawn to deal with some mess that another team needed help with. He hadn't even had time to kiss his mate good morning, not that he'd woken Tim up. Too hectic of a week and Tim needed his sleep.

Once Tim was up, and Jethro already at work, things just seemed to pile up. Paperwork for closing a case. Debriefings. Miscellaneous lose ends to tie up.

And a shooting report.

That had frightened him. It always did. Every time his mate was in harm's way, and worse because he wasn't there to watch Jethro's six, his heart would get stuck in his throat. Tim would curse Jethro for ordering him to desk work, but the worry that something would happen...

So, after every case, Tim quietly drove them home and threw himself at his mate, drinking him in and being thankful for another day. Jethro would give him a quiet laugh and ask what was up with Tim.

Tim would kiss Jethro hard, surround himself with his mate and answer, "Rule Eight."

* * *

End.


	9. Rule Nine

_Rule Nine: Never go anywhere without a knife._

* * *

 

As silently as possible, the red-brown blur moved between the brush and trees. Pausing at another bush as he padded closer to the captives near the clearing's edge, ears flicked to catch all sound available, green eyes darting around hoping to find the two bear shifters who'd overpowered and captured his mate and Tony.

The whisper of skin against bark made him glance up. Black-blue scales contrasted nicely to the dark brown of the oak's trunk, and Ziva, quiet as a snake as she was human, dropped her head just below the branch she was moving on and tasted the air with her forked tongue.

Tim gave Ziva one more look before loping off to free their teammates. Hands tied tightly behind them with a lead from each attached to a stake in the ground, Tim would have howled in anger to see his mate and his friend confined so, but the need for stealth outweighed his wolf instinct defend and reclaim his mate here.

Still, he moved up behind Jethro, pressing his nose into the crook of Jethro's neck for a quick nuzzle, then let the shift overtake him. Fur faded back under his skin, bones moved and popped into a different configuration, wolf instinct settling back and human rationality coming to the fore.

In a matter of seconds, Tim, naked except for the Swiss Army knife that Ziva had tied around his neck, crouched behind his teammates, already cutting through the ropes that bound them. "Quiet guys, and follow me out."

Tony's chuckle was barely louder than a breath when he pulled the loose ropes off himself. "Good to see you, Probie."

"My mate." Jethro smiled and pulled Tim into a fierce hug. "Good to see you remembered Rule Nine."

Flashing a cheeky grin, Tim told him, "I haven't gone anywhere without this knife since you gave it to me." Meeting both Tony and Jethro's eyes, he jerked his head back towards the forest. "Let's get out of here."

* * *

End


	10. Rule Ten

_Rule Ten: Never get personally involved with a case._

* * *

 

"Jethro! Jethro!" Tim squeezed between his mate and the hand-cuffed suspect Gibbs had his gun trained on, breath huffing loud out of his mate's lungs. Eyes bright, shifted, the reflective shine showing Jethro's wolf was almost in control, elongated and large canines bared in a silent snarl. Tim pressed into Jethro's body; his large, gentle hand reaching out and covering Jethro's wrist, carefully forcing the gun down. "Easy, my mate. We got him."

The look on Jethro's face didn't change. "He murdered his family, his pack."

Finally, Tim got Jethro's gun and arm down. "I know. Nothing we can do now, except get justice. Killing him won't do any good." Leaning in, he nuzzled Jethro's cheek and ear with his nose, hoping to give his mate some measure of calm. "We've got him. He'll be tried and sentenced as he should." With a subtle flick of his hand, he shooed Ziva away with the prisoner.

Jethro started to lift his gun again and Tim wrapped his arms around him, pressing in closer still, nosing at Jethro's hair. "Stay." Even though he was mate and not Alpha, the command was obeyed. The distraction let Ziva slip away uncontested.

"I don't understand it." Jethro slipped his gun back into it's holster before letting out a long sigh and giving himself up to his mate's comfort. "His family, Tim."

Tim nodded in understanding. "I know you don't. You would have never hurt Shannon, even though you weren't mates. And Kelly was your little girl. You would've died protecting them. Some people don't understand those kinds of ties. He didn't love his pack, so this wasn't hard for him to do."

"I miss them."

"I know." Tim pulled back enough to look at Jethro. "You always will. Just because we found each other won't change that. But getting so personally involved and offended with these kinds of cases won't bring them back. Neither will killing these bastards in cold blood."

Jethro nodded and took a moment to pull his control together. "Ok. You're right. I just can't seem to help it." Suddenly, he chuckled. "You know, it's for cases like these that I made Rule Ten."

"Yeah. That's seems to be one of the few Rules you break though." Tim smiled and tugged on Jethro's hand. "Come on. We've got paperwork to start."

He _hated_ paperwork.

* * *

End


	11. Rule Eleven

_Rule Eleven: When a case is finished, let it go._

* * *

 

Tim had finally had it, both with the moping and the frantic paper shuffling. He briskly moved to stand in front of Tony's desk, because Tim didn't _stomp_ , waiting for his friend to look up.

It took a couple of minutes.

Tony did finally acknowledge him, he jumped right into it. "Look Tony, I don't know what you're obsessing over about a robbery case, but you're not gonna find it tonight. Go out and have a drink."

Shaking his head, Tony went back to the files. "I know. I promised that little girl that I'd fine her mom's necklace though." He suspiciously cleared his throat. "It was the one of the few things she had left of her."

Then Tim got it. "And if it was your mom's things, you would be devastated if anything was lost. I'm sorry." Tilting his head slightly to the side, he asked, "I can call your mate up out of her lab to take you home, if you like."

"Nah. I'm going to see if I can find that damn necklace." Tony stood up, but Tim blocked his way from behind his desk.

"You got two options. Either I call _my_ mate down here to order you home, and Jethro really won't like that, or I call Abby up here to take you home to put you back in the right frame of mind." Tim shook his had a little. "It's downstairs in that pile of loot we pulled out of the warehouse. They didn't even have time to fence any of it since they started. We'll find it once it's all been cataloged."

Both looked towards the stairs leading to MTAC when they heard their Alpha amble down into the bull pen. "Don't bother Tim, already called Abs." Jethro stopped in front of Tony's desk, next to Tim. "You're going to let her take you home and let her love on you, as any good mate does. That's an order DiNozzo."

"Same thing Tim does for you, Boss?" The headslap was expected and made him feel better, even if Tim was chuckling about it.

"Same thing. You got to remember not to get so caught up in these cases. This isn't the first time I've had to remind you of Rule Eleven." Jethro waved him off. "Now get out of here. You have a mate to be pampered by and I can't in good conscience do the same until I know you're on your way out."

Tim handed Tony his jacket before moving out of the way. "Out."

Tony gave them both a cheeky grin and wave on his way to the elevator. "Have fun!"

"We will."

* * *

End.


	12. Rule Twelve

_Rule Twelve: Never date a co-worker._

* * *

 

Forcing down the belly laugh that was trying to come up, Tony asked again, "So this guy only wanted to talk about the team? What for?"

"I have no idea." Ziva let loose a frustrated sigh as Gibbs wandered into the bull pen and sat at his desk. "And I could not find a polite way to ask. It was not much of a date."

"Rule Twelve, Ziva. Why do you think I follow it?" Jethro chuckled. "Dating co-workers has gotten me into plenty of trouble."

"But you broke Rule Twelve with McGee, boss." While Tony had been successful with keeping the laughing in check, the saucy smirk couldn't be hidden.

"No, I didn't."

Ziva and Tony gave him looks of disbelief. "You are mates, yes? Is that not the same as being married?" Jethro opened his mouth to say something, but Ziva continued before he could. "And is it not standard practice in America to date before you marry?"

Tony snickered. "She's got you there Boss."

"Yeah, normally, you're right Ziva." Jethro leaned back in his chair, quirking a small smile. "Not with Tim though. He knew the Rule, so, instead, he lead me on a merry chase that went on for months. Got to know each other without ever actually going on a date." His smile got a little bigger. "I caught him though. Got fed-up with his teasing and captured him."

Ziva's eyes widened and Tony snickered louder. Jethro rolled his eyes at their reactions, thinking they were over-done. The sweet smell of his mate caught his attention half a heartbeat before Tim spoke from behind him. "You caught me? Are you sure?"

Jethro knew he was in trouble. "Uh..."

"Yeah, I thought so. Had to do something so that wouldn't feel like you broke one of your own Rules. Planned it from start to finish." Tim leaned down, breathing his next words into Jethro's ear. "Our mating anniversary is coming up again. Maybe you would like a reenactment of that night?"

Tony finally lost control and started laughing hysterically at the deep blush on their Alpha's face.

* * *

End.


	13. Rule Thirteen

_Rule Thirteen: Never, ever involve a lawyer._

* * *

 

Groaning, Tim ended the call and set his cell on the kitchen table. One of these days, his sister was going to be the death of him, he was sure. Her first book was half finished and she had called asking if his lawyer could look over a publishing contract for her. Like he needed a lawyer for that.

"Problem, my mate?"

"Not exactly." Tim looked over his shoulder to watch Jethro, who was sauntering into the kitchen in only a pair of sweats, go to the counter and pour himself some coffee from the carafe. "Sarah wants to have my lawyer look over a publishing contract for her." He stood and walked over to refill his coffee also. "I never used one. Tried to tell her that, but you know how my sister is."

"Yeah, I know." Jethro kissed his cheek, then took a sip from his cup. "Why don't you ask one of the people in Legal to look it over?" When Tim just stared at him in amazement, he chuckled. "What? I maybe not be a genius like you, but I'm pretty smart."

Tim shook his head. "It's not that. What about Rule Thirteen?"

"Oh." Chuckling still, Jethro pulled his mate close. "That's mostly for divorce lawyers. But if you're worried about breaking a Rule..." He pressed a brief, hot kiss to Tim's mouth. "You could always," another kiss given, "find her a paralegal."

"Yeah?" Tim set his and Jethro's cups on the counter right before Jethro backed him into it. "Paralegals don't fall under the Rule?" He asked as he slid his hands up Jethro's bare chest, then lifting them completely when his mate took his shirt off. Oh yeah, Tim knew where this was going.

Jethro dropped Tim's tee shirt before ghosting his calloused hands down his mate's chest, pausing to tweak the small, dusky pink nipples. "Don't think they do." Continuing down, he pushed Tim's boxers off, hands teasing the now hard cock for only a moment. The slight whine he got as he moved his hands away was gratifying to hear. "I'm willing to convince you of it though, Agent."

"Is that so, Marine?" Tim gave him a happy little smile. They always slipped into this little bit of role-play at home. He knew it gave Jethro a thrill and it did the same for him as well. "I think you're going to have to convince me," he added, slipping Jethro's sweats down.

Growling playfully, he spun Tim around before pulling the lube out of the kitchen junk drawer. "I think I can do that." Jethro slicked them both quickly, then pressed into his mate. The blush that spread down the back of Tim's neck and shoulders, surely matching the front, was always a pleasure to watch until Tim had adjusted.

He waited to move until Tim threw a coy, panting look over his shoulder. "Come on Marine, I'm waiting." Jethro laughed and set a fast pace, knowing his mate preferred it for the start of the day.

It was always an ego boost to hear the stuttering moans fall from Tim's mouth during their love-making. Jethro loved the sound so much, he would often nuzzle Tim's throat just to feel the breath and sound moving through it, as he did now.

He growled deep in his chest as he felt his orgasm bearing down on him. Not giving it a second thought, Jethro sunk his sharp canines into muscle of Tim's neck. Tim shouted his name and the body he was pounding into tightened with Tim's release, pulling Jethro into his own as his mate's hot blood flowed into his mouth.

"I think you convinced me." Tim's amused voice was raspy. Jethro rumbled his approval as he licked the bite, one of many, clean. What a great start to his day.

* * *

End.


	14. Rule Fourteen

_Rule Fourteen: Never be caught off guard._

* * *

 

Jethro couldn't believe that his normally peaceful and passive mate had him trapped.

The team had a free morning, as free as their mornings got anyway, and Jethro figured it would be good to drag them down to the gym. Just to make sure the team, mostly Tony, hadn't been slacking on hand-to-hand combatives. It had absolutely nothing to do with the desire to roll around on a flat surface with his sweating, panting, pinned mate.

Not that Tim really gave Jethro the chance to pin him.

He really couldn't figure out how it happened. One moment, he was taking a swing at Tim, and the next, he was on the mat with his legs tangled up with his mate's. And _fuck_ , his shins hurt! "Ow! I give!"

Tim immediately released him. "Oh! I'm sorry, Jethro. I forgot how much that damn leglock hurts." Gently, he pulled Jethro's legs into his lap and pulled up the sweat pants so he could get a better look.

"It's fine, Tim." His ego was more bruised than his shins were. Well, more than his shins _should_ have been bruised, but his shifter body was already forcing the marks to heal and fade. Jethro's head tilted a little in thought, staring at his mate. "Where the hell did you learn that?" He chuckled. "Better yet, what _was that?"_

Tim flashed his a bright smile. "Well, I was always a huge wrestling fan growing up. WWE, mostly." Jethro nodded and motioned for him to continue. He start to softly pet Jethro's legs. "Well, one of my favorite wrestlers, Eddie Guerrero, used the same submission as I just did. It's called a figure-four leglock. At the time, wrestling tryouts were happening at my high school, and I figured that the best way to learn it was to ask the wrestling coach. Man was a huge bear-shifter." Tim laughed at the memory. "I asked him and he said if I gave him two years on the team, he'd teach me."

"You'd do your coach proud. I couldn't get out of it."

"It's easy to break, if you know how. I could show you." Tim pulled the sweats back down his mate's legs before they both stood.

"Ok, show me."

* * *

End.


	15. Rule Fifteen

_Rule Fifteen: Always work as a team._

* * *

Jethro looked at his mate. "Are you sure we should be using Ducky for this?"

It always amazed him how Tim, his pretty shy, kind, geeky, brilliant mate, stumbled onto cases with only the vaguest bit of proof. This particular one was a body snatcher that was working out of the local P.D. If wasn't for his compassionate mate checking on the body of a Petty Officer for her family that the LEOs were holding, they'd have never known she was missing until it was too late to do much.

Between Tony's contacts in the police community, Ziva charming her way in to look at the morgue and Tim's background checks, the suspects had been pared down from twelve to three. All of who worked the morning shift. That's when the team had hit a snag.

Only way to figure out who was to question them, but Vance was giving them Hell about bringing them in for questioning. Not enough evidence. Jethro thought, for a lion shifter, Vance was too rigid. Not that Vance listened to him when he said it.

Definitely a good thing his mate was beautiful _and_ smart. Tim had a good idea. While Ducky was old, his sense of smell was almost as good as a wolf's, and his eyesight and hearing were better.

Tim nodded quickly, as if his Alpha was going to argue. "We could send in Abby as his assistant, and since she's Fae, it'd be easier to magick samples and other evidence back to her lab without anyone being the wiser. Jimmy could stay in our Autopsy working on the bodies already there so we don't get behind. It's a good plan."

Even though they were in the middle of the bull pen, Jethro hooked his arm around Tim's shoulders and pulled his close, burying his nose in his mate's hair before asking, "Where'd you think up such a good plan?"

"Rule Fifteen, Jethro. This is us working as a team. They work that angle and we work the other ones." Tim pressed his cheek against Jethro's for a moment before pulling away. "Come on. We've got work to do."

Jethro sighed and let Tim go. "Yes, my mate."

* * *

End.


	16. Rule Sixteen

_Rule Sixteen: If someone thinks they have the upper hand… break it!_

* * *

Mouth hanging open in astonishment, Tim watched his mate wrench the big tiger shifter's hand away from his throat.

"I thought I told you to let go of my mate!" Jethro snarled in the shifter's face right before he broke the hand that was in his grasp. The ear-piercing yowl had Tim covering his ears.

Tim wasn't quite sure how the whole situation came about. They had brought the man in for questioning as a witness to an armed home invasion of a Commander's home. He must have said something to set the shifter off, even if he didn't know what, and the next thing he knew, he was pinned to the wall with the guy trying to choke the life out of him.

How he got into this kind of trouble, Tim would never know.

It wasn't a surprise that Tony burst into Interrogation after only a few seconds though. "What the hell happened Boss?"

"Dumb ass touched my mate." Jethro let go of the shifter's hand and turned to Tim. "You ok?"

"Throat hurts. I'll be fine." His voice was a little weak from the rough handling, but Jethro gave him a look like he didn't believe Tim. Sighing, he motioned to their witness. "What set him off?"

Jethro shook him head. "No idea. Gotta be guilty of something with that kind of reaction." He bared his fangs at the shifter. "Thought he could get out of here with my mate as a hostage."

"Yeah, well…" Tony hauled the man to his feet. "You break his hand Boss?" Jethro nodded and Tim moved closer. "Taking Rule Sixteen a little far there, do you think?"

Even as Jethro pulled Tim closer to look at his quickly fading bruises, the answer was a short bite of sound. "No."

* * *

End.


	17. Rule Seventeen

_Rule Seventeen: Have a Plan B._

* * *

Tim stared up at the ceiling of his hospital room, lost in thought. He'd come too close to losing his life this time. Far too close.

A stray bullet during a fire-fight had slammed into his chest, severing an artery, blood gushing all over the place. The only thing that saved him was his wolf blood trying to heal the wound, but, with the bullet lodged in the back side of his shoulder blade, it happened too slow to avoid serious damage. It also brought home a very disheartening truth.

Which was why Tony was sitting in his room, waiting to find out why Tim had called him.

But Tim didn't know how to start.

"Spit it out, man, otherwise I'm gonna turn gray waiting on you."

Trust Tony to try an lighten the mood. It got Tim talking though. "I need a favor."

Tony gave him a confused look. "What favor? You've been in the hospital for the last three days. You haven't been able to do anything that needs a favor."

"It's not that kind of favor. And it's a big favor to ask." Tim chewed on his bottom lip for a minute before he blurted out, "I need you take care of Jethro if something happens to me."

"Woah!" Tony leaned for in his seat, catching and holding Tim's eyes. "Nothing is going to happen to you Tim, don't even think it."

"I have to." Tim growled a little, frustrated with his habit of blurting out exactly the wrong things to say. "I almost died this time. I might the next time, or the next. I need to know that _if_ I go first, that Jethro's taken care of." He gave Tony a wry look. "You know as well as I do, when it comes to his heart, Jethro doesn't think."

Running a hand through his hair, Tony sighed. "Yeah, you got me there. But what do you want me to do with him?"

"Just keep him from doing something rash until he's thinking with a clear head. Don't let him do anything stupid in his grief." Tim held out his hand to Tony. "You're my back-up plan, in case I'm killed in the line of duty. You're my best friend and I want you to promise to do this for me."

Tony looked thoughtfully at Tim's hand for almost a minute before taking it in his own. "Rule Seventeen, huh? Ok, but only if you promise me you'll do the same for me and Abby."

Tim sighed in relief and gave Tony's hand a squeeze. "Thanks Tony."

Even as he squeezed back, he had to ask, "What about you?"

The sad smile Tim gave him made his heart clench. "I decided a while ago that I won't live with out my mate."

* * *

End.


	18. Rule Eighteen

_Rule Eighteen: It's better to seek forgiveness than ask permission._

* * *

Flicking the Zippo closed, Tim look around the dining room one last time. A small pile of brightly wrapped presents from the pack, a decent-sized chocolate cake with sixty candles that barely looked a little less than girly, and a full spread of munchies and finger foods, all laid out on the table. Jethro was gonna kill him.

Tony came in from the back, hopefully done prepping the grill. The team had worked hard to set up this smallish birthday party for Gibbs and Tim was going to bust someone's head open if it didn't go off perfectly. His packmate immediately assuaged that worry as soon as he opened his mouth. "Grill's ready to go." He tried to take a swipe of the cake frosting, even as Tim batted his hands away.

"There's leftover frosting in the container in the kitchen. Go stick your filthy paws in that."

Grinning, Tony started to saunter into the kitchen when he noticed the Zippo still clutched in Tim's hand. "Is that Gibbs' lighter?"

"Yeah. It's the only one in the house, so of course I was gonna use it." Tim gave Tony an exasperated look. "Why, is it haunted or sacred or something?"

"Nope." Tony shook his head and huffed a small _merup_. "He got that in the Corps. Design on it's a dead giveaway."

"I know."

"You didn't ask to use it, did you?" The wide-eyed and gleeful look Tony gave him was really too much. "Ohhhh, Timmy's a bad mate. I hope Boss spanks you for it."

Tim blushed hard and Tony laughed. "No, I didn't ask! Ever since that damned flaming blood sample in the lab, he won't let me anywhere near a lighter."

That just made Tony laugh harder. It was such a stupid mistake. Tim had been down in the lab, trying to break their case. He'd randomly picked up something to fiddle with, which happened to be one of the lighters Abby kept. Standing close to the blood samples, so he could think without being in the way, just continuously rolling the thumbwheel. Abby had asked him a question at about the same time that he lowered the lighter to the table, still rolling the thumbwheel. There was a spark and a human's blood sample caught fire. Never did quite figure out how it happened.

Gibbs had banned him from lighters until further notice. Tim translated that to mean _never._

"So, I followed Rule Eighteen. Besides, Jethro won't spank me. He'll chase me down, sink his teeth into me and-"

"Gah!" Tony hastily covered his eyes and shuttered. "I don't want to know what our Alpha does with you in the bedroom!"

Unable to help himself, Tim added, "Who said anything about a bedroom?"

Tony's sudden stillness clued him onto the fact that something wasn't right. After a second, the smell of sawdust and pine wrapped around his senses. Plastering on a smile, Tim turned to face Gibbs. "Hello my mate," he said, then squeaked when Jethro lifted him over a broad shoulder.

"Excuse us for a minute," he rumbled, "I have to teach my mate some manners."

* * *

End.


	19. Rule Nineteen

_Rule Nineteen: First, be polite._

* * *

He watched as Jethro stormed out of Director Vance's office in a huff, irritation coming off in waves. As his mate stomped down the stairs and towards his desk, Tim could hear the faint rumble of Jethro's growl and almost laughed. Didn't take much to know what had the team Alpha in a snit.

Before he thought better of it, Tim opened his mouth. "You know, the Director wouldn't turn down your requests so often if didn't go in there like he was a back-alley Tom cat that you were about to scrap with."

Jethro stopped and turned to his mate, astonishment written all over his face. "I do not."

"Please. Rule Nineteen always seems to go out the window when you two cross paths. Does it hurt your pride to be polite when his lion honor demands it?"

"No." Jethro sighed and hitched his up onto the corner of Tim's desk. "I suppose it doesn't. He just agitates the hell out of me."

"It's because you're both Alpha. He always asks us to take the dangerous cases, which makes you want to protect you pack and every time you question him, it makes him think you're a threat to his territory, so he has to reassert his position that this _is_ his territory." Tim set his work aside and took Jethro's hand. "You got to remember, wolves and lions have different ideas about what's important and how things should be done. Civility and politeness are a good way to start. To him it'll seem like you're not trying to countermand him and he'll be less likely to micromanage. Then you can take what steps you need to protect us without him breathing down your neck." Tim chuckled and played with his mates fingers. "See? Problem solved."

Jethro squeezed his hand. "Sometimes, I forget how wise you are."

Tim blushed. "It's just common sense. If you didn't get your hackles up dealing with the Director, you remember the Rule."

"True."

* * *

End.


	20. Rule Twenty

_Rule Twenty: Never leave a man behind._

* * *

Even as Tim and Jethro pulled out another injured sailor from top-deck entry of the _USS Barry,_ Tim glanced around and counted his team. With all the people moving around, trying to get off the burning ship, he couldn't really see everybody. But he did see Ducky standing at the top of the gangplank, directing sailors to offload to the dock as quickly as possible.

He had to shout loud to be heard over the noise. "Ducky! Head count!"

Tim turned back to help his mate only to be interrupted a couple of minutes later by a tap on his shoulder. Ignoring the growl that came for Jethro, he turned his head to the man who'd touched him. "What?"

"The man over there," the sailor motioned to Ducky, "said someone named Jimmy in unaccounted for." Cursing under his breath, he through the entryway to see if Jimmy was close. He wasn't. The sailor must have been looking too, because he added, "I saw him taking to one of the engineering crew. One of the guy's sloth is missing on the lower deck. Maybe your packmate went in to find him?"

That would be just like Jimmy, running into danger without a thought to his safety. And vampires around fire was never a good thing. He saw Jethro raise an eyebrow at the sailor. "What the hell's a sloth?"

"Pack of bears." Tim answered, then started shoving Jethro through the door. "Gotta get Jimmy. Who knows what kind of trouble he'll get into down there."

His Alpha took off at a run, Tim barely a step behind him, rushing through the clearer parts of the ship. Jethro suddenly decided to say something. "Damon's gonna kill me."

"What? You mean that big cougar shifter that had the steroid problem?"

"Yeah. Jimmy took him as a mate and I promised him I'd keep Jimmy out of trouble. They were going to petition for Damon to join our pack next week. DiNozzo's gonna freak."

"Wow." Tim lengthened his stride, trying to run faster. "We'll get him out. We haven't left a man yet."

"And Jimmy's pretty resilient for such a small vampire."

Thankfully, Jimmy was just coming out of the engine room when they caught up with him, almost dwarfed by the man he was trying to help along.

* * *

End.


	21. Rule Twenty-One

_Rule Twenty-One: Don't pull your gun unless you plan to use it._

* * *

"Ziva, what the hell were you thinking?" Tim asked while securing handcuffs on what had originally been a witness.

"He hit you McGee. Of course I was going to pull my weapon."

It was definitely not the point. The small young man, Fae by the scent of him and who reminded Tim an awful lot of Jimmy, didn't look like he could do damage to a wet paper bag, much less him. But the poor guy was emotionally overwrought to begin with and being questioned by NCIS Agents, even as non-threatening as Tim and Ziva seemed, so it wasn't any surprise that the witness lashed out.

"It's just a black eye, not like it won't heal in a few hours." Tim blanched for a second as he asked, "You weren't actually going to shoot him, were you?"

The look on Ziva's face could only be interpreted as surprise. "No. I thought the threat would be sufficient to make him stand down. It worked."

Tim rolled his eyes. "Rule Twenty One Ziva."

"Never be caught off guard?"

"No. That's Rule Fourteen. Twenty One is don't pull your gun unless you're gonna use it. And didn't Boss tell you the next time you broke that Rule he was gonna make you box with him?" The shudder he got from her said just how much she didn't want to do _that._ "All right. I won't tell him, if you promise me you won't break it anymore."

Ziva helped him stuff the witness into their car before answering. "Fine. But Gibbs will know something happened when he sees the mark on your face."

He flashed her a cheeky smile. "You let me deal with that. I have ways of distracting him."

Laughing, Ziva clapped him on the shoulder.

* * *

End.


	22. Rule Twenty-Two

_Rule Twenty-Two: Never,_ _**ever** _ _, bother Gibbs in interrogation._

* * *

Gulping down a deep breath in the second or two that Jethro gave him between kisses, he promptly lost it in a gasp when his mate's buried fingers brushed against his prostate.

Tim wondered again, and not for the last time, how he _got_ in these situations. Dragged down to Interrogation by his irate mate after countermanding and arguing a stupid order. Not that he could remember what the argument was about at the moment. But Tim _definitely_ remembered Jethro yanking him into the room after his Alpha, who promptly popped open the buttons on his shirt and tangled his hands behind his back with it, pulled his pants to his knees, and bent him over the far end of the table.

A faint moan from Tim as Jethro removed his fingers and replaced it with his cock seemed to echo in the small room. So did Jethro's harsh reprimand of, "I don't like it when you disagree with me."

"Of course." Tim's forehead thunked on the table as his mate set a punishing pace. Not that Tim cared. This was what happened sometimes when he challenged his Alpha, even if the triggers changed all the time. He wouldn't trade these particular trysts for anything either. It helped that Jethro needed this from time to time. And maybe that was the answer, Jethro was in a certain mood and Tim had to push him.

Still, Tim wouldn't trade these particular trysts for anything.

There was only one actual downside to a great bout of rough love-making inside NCIS Headquarters though. Namely, anyone could walk in on you, and unfortunately, Tim remembered this little fact with Jethro mid-thrust as the door opened to reveal Jimmy. The split-second look Tim got of the vampire's face, before he turned his head away, showed Jimmy was even redder than what he himself was able to achieve.

His mate, on the other hand, did more than look at Jimmy. Jethro dropped his hands to the table on either side of Tim's head and dropped his body so that his chest was against Tim's back, hiding him from view. The very rough snarl that came out of Jethro's mouth was more wolf than human, but nonetheless impressive. "Do _not_ bother me here!"

"I-I-I'm sorry, A-Agent Gibbs, but Dinozzo-" Poor Jimmy was almost beside himself. A quick peek at Jethro's face, razor-sharp canines and blazing eyes, told him why.

The snarl got louder. " _Out!"_

Jimmy fled and Tim would have laughed at the situation if Jethro hadn't immediately resumed his hard thrusts with a rumbled, "I'm not done with you yet, my mate."

* * *

End.


	23. Rule Twenty-Three

_Rule Twenty-Three: Never mess with a Marine's coffee if you want to live._

* * *

Tony watched in awe and a little terror as Tim picked up their Alpha's coffee from his desk and took a long sip. He honestly thought, for hysterical second, that Gibbs was going to appear in the bull pen out of thin air and headslap his packmate so hard that even Tim's wolf blood wouldn't be able to heal the resulting concussion for a week. Drinking the Boss' coffee just _wasn't done._

His expression must have been showing, because when Tim looked over at him, he gently set the cup back on Gibbs' desk. "What?"

"What? _What?_ Boss is gonna be so mad that you were drinking his coffee!" Tony shuttered for a moment. "Might even headslap you into a coma, and I really don't want to have to train a new probie."

Tim started to chuckle. "Tony, calm down. Jethro's not gonna be mad about his coffee."

"Even I know better than to mess a Marine's coffee Probie. Didn't you ever learn that?" Waving his hands in the air a little to emphasize his point, Tony added, "I remember the last time I just _accidentally_ spilled it. I got nothing but the crap jobs for a month!"

"I promise Tony, Jethro won't be angry." The smile Tim flashed at him didn't help at all as Gibbs' footsteps reached their ears just moments before the Boss rounded the dividers.

"We got cold cases today, so settle in." Jethro walked right past Tony with barely a glance, intent on his mate and pulling Tim close for a brief kiss.

Well, it was supposed to be a brief one, but Gibbs growled and forced Tim against his desk, thoroughly seeking out every trace of coffee. It took at least a minute, probably stretching into two before they broke apart. "You taste good."

Tim's eyes sparkled and he was breathing hard. "Yeah, I stole a drink."

"Gotta stop doing that. I'm liable to ravage you in the office." Grinning, Jethro reluctantly let Tim go.

Before he could sit in his chair, Tim's voice floated teasingly across to Tony and he looked up. "See? Told you he wouldn't be mad."

Tony's face wore a look of surprise. "You think if I did that with Abby's Caf-Pow I'd get the same reaction?"

Tim smiled.

* * *

End.


	24. Rule Twenty-Four

_Rule Twenty-Four: Live up to your first impression._

* * *

"Did you know, Jethro, that you give people two different first impressions?" Tim laughed at the wide blue eyes that turned to him as they walked out of their regular coffee shop and started back towards Headquarters. "It's true!"

"How do you figure?" Jethro was honestly stumped. Far as he knew, he treated everybody that he met with the 'second B is for bastard' attitude. By this point in his life it was second nature, almost as natural as a good run calming him down or basking in his mate's soothing presence or sanding away his frustrations on his boat.

"Well," Tim smiled like he was about to start one of his long-winded technical explanations, but Gibbs just waved for his mate to cut to the chase. "Ok. When you don't particularly care what someone thinks of you, you come off as a tough and impatient bastard, like the new barista you just scared in there."

Jethro snorted. The barista Tim had just mentioned had screwed up his coffee order after he'd repeated it to her three times. Finally he had gotten irritated enough to bark at her and she got it right that time. "I _am_ a tough and impatient bastard though."

Tim shook his head. "Not exactly. To those that end up becoming part of our pack, you come off as a stern but fair and compassionate Alpha. And children adore you no matter what." He shrugged and added, "That's the first impression you gave me. You lived up to it too."

"Nah. I was a tough bastard to everyone but you when we first met." Jethro stopped them in the middle of the sidewalk, not caring about those passing around them and pulled Tim into his arms, resting their foreheads together. "I knew from the moment I saw you that you were meant just for me and I wasn't about to treat you like that."

Laughing, Tim's eyes took on that look of complete adoration he had for his mate. "That's not what the rest of our team says."

"Don't know what your talking about. No good reason for people to think I'm a nice guy, so I never pretend to be. Got a Rule for it even."

"I just bet you do." Tim sneaked a hand into the hair at the back of Jethro's head to hold him still and gave him a gentle kiss. "I guess we'll just have to disagree then."

"Yeah. You lived up to yours though." Jethro flashed a crooked grin. "A little shy, gentle, geeky and very brave. All the things we've done, stuff we've been through, those never changed." This time Jethro leaned in for another kiss, then started them walking again. "Although, at the time, I didn't know you were also funny, sexy, driven, protective."

The blush that flared on Tim's cheeks had Jethro chuckling.

* * *

End.


	25. Rule Twenty-Five

_Rule Twenty-Five: Once you draw a line, don't cross it!_

* * *

Scowling at the feel of the deep incisor marks high on his neck, right beneath his right ear, Tim looked up at his mate. Any other time would have probably been better to bring up this particular conversation, but they'd already discussed it. "I thought we agreed that you wouldn't bite so high. You know, for propriety's sake."

Jethro chuckled and laid himself down fully on his mate, nuzzling the mark he'd left in the heat of their love-making. A lazy Saturday, where every time Tim even _breathed_ in his direction got him hotter. Jethro had barely made it through dinner before he whisked Tim upstairs and loved him like he'd been dreaming about all day, slow and lazy and scorching. And yeah, for the sake of professionalism they'd agreed to keep the bites low enough a collared shirt would cover them when buttoned. Especially since their shifter instincts made them want to strengthen their bond often by exchanging blood. And Tim loved to be bitten.

But really, Tim had been teasing him all day, whether his mate knew it or not, and he had been so lost in the touch and taste and scent of Tim that he had forgotten. It'd been an honest lapse. _Really._

And the timing sucked. Jethro was basking in the afterglow, hadn't even pulled out of Tim yet, slick with sweat and ejaculate, a thin trail of blood trickling down the long, graceful column of Tim's throat. Jethro tucked his head against his mate's chest to better hear his racing heart. "We did. Wasn't really thinking about it though."

"Damn." Tim smacked the back of his head lightly, which made Jethro chuckle again. "You know I can't get mad at you when you decide to cuddle."

"I know. Let's face it, you never get mad at me anyways. Not in your nature."

"You should be thankful for that, as many times as you've broken Rule Twenty-Five with me." Tim wriggled a little to get comfortable and closer, happy that Jethro hadn't gone soft enough to disconnect them yet. "Otherwise you'd get more headslaps from me then I would from you."

Levering himself to his elbows, Jethro looked down Tim. "Wait a minute, just who the hell is Alpha here?"

"You are, but you're my mate first." Tim carded his fingers through his mate's silver hair, love shining in his eyes. "Now, when we're like this, there is no Alpha. Just you and me."

"I love it when you say things like that." Ducking down, he stole a soft kiss. "You're really too sweet to me."

"Love me?" Tim pulled Jethro a little harder against him, and he knew Tim meant more sex.

But he honestly couldn't help answering, "Always."

* * *

End.


	26. Rule Twenty-Six

_Rule Twenty-Six: Never apologize - it's a sign of weakness._

* * *

The large hands buried deep in his hair tightened when his hands made their way down to the buckle, making fast work of it and the button-fly on Gibbs' jeans following in short order. Tim yanked his mouth away from the ravenous kiss Jethro had him trapped in, dropping to his knees.

Jethro gasped loudly when Tim fished his hard dick out, the sound bouncing around the stopped elevator before fading out. He leaned back into the wall as much as he could to keep his suddenly weak knees from giving way.

And to think, all he'd done was bark at Tim for risking his career. Some probie on another team had been accused of hurting his girlfriend and she'd gotten him in trouble with the D.C. LEOs. The probie, Salts, knew that Tim would help, and get Jethro's help, if he convinced Tim that he hadn't done any such thing to the girlfriend. Of course Tim believed him. Even stood up for the smallish lynx shifter to the Director. Vance didn't have any bones of sending Tim down to the sub-basement for an extended period of time if the probie's story blew up in his and Jethro's faces and made sure everyone knew it.

Jethro was angry with his mate. As far as he was concerned, anything that would remotely separate them, or the rest of his pack, was to be dealt with quickly and harshly. So that's what their team did. Quickly proved that the girlfriend was a lying, manipulative bitch and got Salts off the cops' radar.

As soon as Salts had finished thank the team profusely, Tim had pulled them into the elevator. Which brought Jethro back to what was going on now. Tim on his knees and Jethro panting as his mate finally took his cock into his mouth, making him shout in pleasure.

He knew he didn't like apologies, but if this was the kind he was gonna get from Tim from now on, he _really_ wasn't going to complain.

* * *

End.


	27. Rule Twenty-Seven

_Rule Twenty-Seven: Two ways to follow. First way, they never notice you. Second way, they only notice you._

* * *

Undercover operations weren't exactly his cup of tea, but if this was how he spent them, he definitely wasn't going to complain. In the middle of the dance floor of the club surrounded by humans, Jethro holding him tight and slow dancing while everyone watched them. Tim loved to dance, but couldn't talk his mate into it very often, and this was perfect. Coming to the club for the last two nights trying to catch a drug dealer that used it for business deals, they immediately caught the crowd's attention as the only gay couple on the floor and Tony and Ziva kept to edges, blending in to try and spot their dealer.

Burying his nose in the spot just behind Jethro's left ear and tightening his arms around his mate's shoulders to bring the wrist mic closer, he keyed it. "Hey Ziva, anything yet?"

"No." Ziva's voice whispered across the earwig, sounding very annoyed. "I do not think he will show tonight."

"Got it." Clicking his mic off, Tim sighed. Too much longer and this wasn't going to work as cover any more.

As if reading his thoughts, Jethro breathed a quiet sigh as well and pulled him closer. "Can't do this for another night. We won't be much to notice four nights in a row." He rubbed his cheek against Tim's hair, rumbling low in his chest, content. "You know, the whole reason I didn't like to dance was because I don't like people seeing me being intimate, right?"

Tim smothered his smile against Jethro's throat. "I know."

"But, maybe, I don't think it's so bad anymore." He felt a little embarrassed to admit it, but the last couple of nights, nothing to really do except hold Tim close felt nice. Slightly awkward at first, but once he'd relaxed things went fine. "I could do this more often with you."

"What? You mean being a distraction?"

Chuckling, Jethro nipped Tim's ear. "Brat."

Just then, the earwig chirped, which was Ziva's signal that her and Tony had spotted their guy. "Back to work, my mate. Can't be lazy all night."

"No. But we'll come back and do this on our own time. Ok?"

Pulling back, Tim smiled for his mate. "You got a date."

* * *

End.


	28. Rule Twenty-Eight

_Rule Twenty-Eight: People change, but a promise stays the same._

* * *

Tim entered the house silently, not wanting his mate to know he was home yet. Not today. Not when Jethro was still hurting from memories, even after all these years. But Tim was hoping, like he did every time since they'd mated, that Jethro wouldn't be inconsolable.

He'd been sort of lucky so far. The three days of the year he would come home to find a candle burning in front of a picture of Shannon and Kelly on the mantle. One of those days, today actually, he knew why. It was anniversary of their death. And while Jethro would be quiet and withdrawn, he wouldn't really take out the still present anger and heartache on Tim. Didn't acknowledge him either though. And while Jethro would be sullen about it for days afterwards, Tim would get sick of the silence and disappear for the night, usually crashing on Jimmy's couch. He couldn't do that now with Damon around and definitely not when the pair was practically newly mated.

Quietly, Tim crept into the kitchen and set down the Chinese he'd brought home before just as quietly starting towards their upstairs bedroom to hang up his blazer. He really didn't get far into the living room when Jethro grabbed him. "Where you going?"

"Upstairs real fast." Tim turned in Jethro's arms and gave his mate a searching look. "You ok? And how'd you know I was home?"

Jethro clutched him closer, forcing his head against his neck. "Always know when you get home. Could smell you as soon as you came in. And yeah, I'm ok."

Tim wasn't quite sure about that. "What's going on?" Shifting around a little, Tim buried his nose right underneath Jethro's ear and sighed. "You don't usually greet me today."

"I know. I've been an ass about this. I don't mean to give you the silent treatment on days like today, but I never know how to talk about this."

"So what made you bring this up?"

The sigh he was expecting, but Jethro tightening his arms almost to the point where Tim couldn't breathe wasn't. "I owe you an explanation."

Tim shook his head as much as possible without moving from where his head was buried. "Not really. I know there are things you won't ever tell me and that's fine. But I do have a question." The nod Jethro gave him was probably the only prompting he was going to get. "Why the other two days? I know what today is, but not the other ones."

Chuckling sadly, he answered, "Shannon made me promise when I joined the Marines that I'd light a candle on her birthday to remember her, because I couldn't call home most of the time that I was on deployment. When Kelly was born, I just kinda did the same for her birthday too. I've never gone a year without doing it and I did promise." Jethro dropped his head to Tim's shoulder, taking comfort from Tim. "They're gone, so it shouldn't matter, but I've never broken a promise and I wasn't about to start now."

"It does matter." Tim pulled back and gentle grasped Jethro's face in both hands, pulling him up to meet Tim's eyes. "It matters to you, so don't stop doing it. Just don't shut me out either. If you want to talk about them to me, I'd love to know about them. If it's too painful, then that's fine too. But no more silence." He waited until Jethro nodded before continuing. "Ok. We're going to eat, then drive out to Rock Creek Park with Jett for a run." Tim smiled at him. "Remember, no socks. For some reason you love to eat the damn socks when you're a wolf."

Jethro gave him a quiet laugh and nodded again.

* * *

End.


	29. Rule Twenty-Nine

_Rule Twenty-Nine: Cockiness will get someone killed._

* * *

"Tony!"

A quiet " _murrap"_ came from the large branches of the oak tree, directly next to the apartment they were supposed to be watching, answering Tim's loudly whispered growl of his packmate's name. Looking up, Tim crooked his finger at Tony, telling him to come down _now._ Even though proximity to their suspects kept Tony from purring, Tim was sure that's exactly what Tony would have done to show his repentance as he dug his big claws in the tree bark and slunk down to the ground in front of Tim.

"Shift," Tim commanded, putting all his authority as Alpha mate into his voice as possible. For a moment he was sure that Tony would refuse, but instead the pale and creamy brown fur sank back into the skin; skull, eyes, ears, joints reshaped themselves in seconds until Tony stood up and shook himself like he was settling his skin.

Tony gave Tim a disgruntled look then bent down to pick up his clothes from a tangle of exposed roots and dressed quickly. "What's going on Probie?"

Miffed, Tim waited for a moment so that Tony could finish straightening his clothes before giving him a resounding smack to the back of the head. "What were you thinking? Those damn hyena shifters would've torn you apart if they had found you. And Boss explicitly told you not to go stalking around here to get a look."

"What the hell did you headslap me for?" Rubbing the back of his head, Tony glared.

"Jethro gave me that to give to you. Now you answer me DiNozzo."

"We had to see what was going on. I was the best one to do that."

Tim rolled his eyes and sighed, pulling Tony away from the tree and herding him back towards their surveillance van. "You seem to have a hard time remembering that we're a _team_ , Tony. Me or Ziva could have done this with a lot less risk than you. You're too big a target as a cougar."

"They wouldn't have caught me."

A scathing glare on Tim's face got Tony's attention. "You're getting too cocky. Jethro's really not gonna like it." Tony sighed, exasperated. "You are. Something's gotta be done about it."

Opening his mouth to refute it, he closed it just as quickly when they reached the van and Gibbs opened the side. The too calm look on the Boss' face really didn't bode well. "Gotta talk to you DiNozzo."

Tony only had one thought when he saw that look. _Shit._

* * *

End.


	30. Rule Thirty

_Rule Thirty: No such thing as a bad lead._

* * *

"Uh, Boss? I think I got something… But it's probably not much."

Jethro looked over at his mate, standing in in front of the plasma with a slight frown that meant he was probably going to rue bringing this lead to his Alpha's attention. Still, Tim waved him over and jumped right into the information. "Well, we know that a lot of really odd items have been stolen from the various preternatural tribes, clans, prides and packs in the area, right?" Tim waited a moment for Jethro to nod before continuing. "We've been assuming it's to spook people into a doing something. What if it's not?"

Looking up at the plasma, the list of things stolen and the people they were taken from. Really though, there wasn't any sense to it. It was just a bunch of random bits and pieces, like a dryad's dead tree taken from the family's land or a priceless and large sapphire geode that belonged to a swan shifter. Nothing actually worth the trouble of taking. "Why the hell else would somebody want this stuff though? All of the items could be bought or traded for, not stolen."

"I thought of that, so I went calling around to find out if somebody had tried to purchase these specific pieces, since they're kinda out of the ordinary. I only got a first name, but I figured it was worth a shot, considering we can't seem to find any other leads." Tim ran a hand through his hair, frustrated. "But I still can't figure why, just that I don't think this is about frightening people."

"Go talk to the sellers, see if you can get a sketch." Jethro started to turn away, but Tim caught his hand.

"Probably will come to nothing. You sure? I don't want to waste the time if you don't think it's a lead worth chasing."

Jethro leaned in close enough to rub his cheek against his mate's. "No such thing as a bad lead, my mate. While you're doing that, I'll head down to Abby and see if she's got something."

"Ok. I'll get Tony and Ziva up here and they can make a go at finding this woman." Tim smiled and pulled out his phone after bumping against Jethro's cheek one more time, already hustling to the elevator.

Chuckling to himself over his mate, Jethro started down to Abby's.

* * *

End.


	31. Rule Thirty-One

_Rule Thirty-One: Never take things at face value._

* * *

"You're serious!"

Abby laughed at the look on Tim's face. "Well yeah! You didn't really think I'd be in such a good mood all the time if Tony didn't enjoy the same kind of things in the bedroom that I did."

Tim shook his head, amused in spite of himself. "You'd never know it, to look at the guy. Never took him for that kind of guy." And, honestly, it wasn't something that Tim wanted to know about his packmate. Just thinking that Tony liked to… Making a face, he opened his mouth to change the subject, but he just wasn't that lucky.

"I bet Boss-man is into some really kinky stuff. Leather, lace, maybe playing with his wood tools…" Abby leaned closer, dropping her voice like they were sharing a secret. "Maybe he likes to tie you up and-"

"Abby!" Tim was blushing down to his toes, he just knew it. Silently damning his fair Irish skin, Tim instead attempted to shut her train of thought down. "I came down here to get an update on the ballistics for our case, not talk about sex."

"Oh, come on Timmy. I'm just curious. I'm a grown-up and you're a grown up, and no one has to know."

And if Tim wasn't embarrassed enough, Tony decided that was the perfect moment to walk in. "Know what?"

Bouncing in place as Tony swept her up into a happy hug, Abby blurted out, "I was wanting to know the fun and naughty things Timmy and Gibbs get up to in the bedroom, but he refuses to tell me, and-"

Tony chuckled and kissed her into silence. "I'm sure plenty gets _up_ in their bedroom. You already know Boss is a biter, and you know their romps aren't always in the bedroom, so don't be so nosy."

Blushing harder, Tim smacked the back to Tony's head. "Can't we get back on the case, please?"

"Yeah." Tony laughed. "What do you think Alpha sent me down here for?"

* * *

End.


	32. Rule Thirty-Two

_Rule Thirty-Two: Infinite diversity in infinite combinations._

* * *

Tony took a sip of his beer and leaned forward. "So, let me get this straight. Boss didn't even bat an eyelash over this human?"

"No. I had thought he would, but he just continued questioning him." Ziva cocked her head slightly and looked at Abby, who was sitting next to Tony and fiddling with a shot glass. "Or would he be called 'her'?"

"Ah, Ziva, that is one of the greater mysteries of social interaction. When confronted with a transvestite, what is the proper form of address? Do you say he, because they are obviously male, or do you say she, since that is their preference?"

Abby elbowed her mate. "Tony! Haven't you ever really met a transvestite, or a transsexual for that matter?"

"Well, not exactly. But why-"

"Because," Gibbs startled them, walking through the last of the bar crowd with Tim to the table, beers in hand. " _She_ was a very upset witness. If you didn't know how to address her, then she would've clammed up faster than Tim does when talking about our sex life."

"Jethro!" Tim smacked the back of his mate's head, ignoring the flash of canines. "It's just not anybody's business what we do in our bedroom."

Ziva scooted over and Jethro pulled Tim onto the bench seat with him, giving his mate a silencing kiss. "I know. It's fun to rile you up though."

Tim rolled his eyes and Tony hopped in with a subject change. "I'm kinda surprised you handled our witness so well Boss. I thought you'd ask one of us to talk to her, seeing how she was pretty different to most of the people we talk to."

"Yeah, well, Rule Thirty Two."

The rest of the team glanced at each other in confusion. Tim just smile and took a sip of beer. "Haven't heard that Rule before," Abby finally said.

"Infinite diversity in infinite combinations. Basically, it takes all kinds." Gibbs grinned.

Tony groaned. "More _Star Trek?_ Oh man, Probie's rubbing off on you!"

Laughing, Jethro added, "I think Spock had a good idea. And, as far as watching goes, it's all Tim's fault. He was watching it and I heard something about spores, I stopped for a second to look and just kinda got sucked in. Ended up watching the whole series one weekend."

"It's a better Rule than the one he used to have," Tim added. "Something silly thing about redheads. Happy he changed it."

Jethro glared playfully at Tim when the others snickered into their glasses.

* * *

End.


	33. Rule Thirty-Three

_Rule Thirty-Three: No such thing as loving too much._

* * *

Content, Jethro and Tim curled up together on the couch and just relaxed.

Another long day of chasing down numerous holiday-related assaults and larcenies had exhausted them both, and even though Jethro would've preferred to go down and work on his annoyance at the world on his boat, Tim had asked, so he stayed put. "The things I do for you."

"Hmm?"

Smiling at the sleepy noise coming from his mate, he buried his nose in Tim's hair and breathed in the spicy, clean scent. "I was really hoping to work the basement tonight. But no. You gave me that pout of yours…"

Chuckling softly, Tim moved so close, he was practically in Jethro lap. "You love me is why."

"Too much some days."

"Rule Thirty-Three, my mate."

Jethro huffed in feint annoyance. "I know. Still, all you have to do is give me that pout and I fold. How do you do that?"

Laughing a little louder, Tim answered, "Practice."

* * *

End.


	34. Rule Thirty-Four

_Rule Thirty-Four: Nothing beats a fast car in a chase._

* * *

Tim and Tony ran side by side, trying to catch a stupidly fast Fae that had just magicked half the munitions out of the Pentagon's armory to who-knew-where. Jethro said he'd cut the guy off before reaching the Lagoon, but Tim wasn't really sure how his mate planned to do it. He shoved the thought aside and concentrated on his part, herding this dumbass away from the roads.

As they started to close on the fleeing thief, Tony's stamina finally started to flag. Tim nipped at Tony's flank, trying to get his packmate to keep up, but if they didn't catch the guy soon they'd loose him. Cougars like Tony just weren't built for long runs like he and Jethro were. And as big as he was as a wolf, he wasn't quite big enough to bring this guy down on his own, not like Jethro.

The sound of Jethro's Charger finally roared into hearing range barely a minute later and skid to a stop a little over three feet in front of the suspect. The guy didn't have time to stop before crashing into the side of the car and Tim, as well as Tony, barely avoided the same.

Jethro stepped out of his car, gun drawn, ready to fire the second the Fae looked like he was going to magick himself out of trouble. "One of you guys shift and get dressed. I'm gonna need some help securing him."

Shifting fast, Tim quickly walked over and pulled his clothes out of the front seat, dressing quickly while Tony did the same. "Had to use the car, my mate?"

The smirk was expected. "Yeah. Wasn't going to chance him getting away."

"Come on Probie! You know he's got a Rule about chases." Tony laughed and pulled his gun to help the Boss.

Tim just shook his head and finished dressing, exasperated.

* * *

End.


	35. Rule Thirty-Five

_Rule Thirty-Five: Always watch the watchers._

* * *

Jethro tightened his arms around Tim's shoulders and tucked his mate's head under his chin, baring his fangs at the bear shifter watching them from across the office. He really didn't like the way the new agent was eyeballing Tim. Not at _all._

Rumbling a growl deep in his chest when the other shifter didn't turn away, he hoped the noise would tell the agent that Tim was not available. It didn't, but it did get Tim's attention.

"What's the matter Jethro?"

Glaring at the shifter, Jethro answered, "I'm not happy with the way that new agent is looking at you. It seems like he's thinking to challenge me for you."

Tim laughed. "Really, Jethro? He's barely been here a week and you're jumping to mate-challenge already?"

"It's not funny." The growl never left the Alpha's voice, but it did lighten somewhat. "And he might. Not unheard of when a shifter starts watching another's mate like he is."

Nuzzling his mate's throat, Tim tried to calm him. "True. But he'd have to be very stupid to think he could take me away from you. Just couldn't happen."

"Still, it'd be best if I kept a close eye on him."

"Thirty-five huh? Ok, but did anybody ever tell you that you're paranoid?" Tim grinned hard when Jethro buried his nose in Tim's hair.

"You do, about half a dozen times a day," Jethro conceded. "I'm just being protective."

Tim decided it was best not to argue.

* * *

End.


	36. Rule Thirty-Six

_Rule Thirty-Six: Never place a bet if you won't win._

* * *

A groan ripped out of his raw throat when Jethro started to move again. Two orgasms already and Tim wasn't sure he had another one in him, but Jethro was determined. "I can't."

"Come on, my mate. A bet's a bet." Jethro grinned fiercely, picking up the pace of his thrusts a little.

"I hate that Rule." And Tim did. He should know better by now than to wager anything with his mate. Jethro never lost. Tim knew this. But he'd been so sure that he would beat his mate _this_ time.

It was stupid, really. He had been hot and bothered for most of the day, and Jethro had seemed quite content with their normal Sunday routine. A wolf run in the morning, pack business, then a break for lunch. More pack business and some leisure time late in the afternoon to wind down from the day. Jethro had gone downstairs to work on his boat, seemingly oblivious to his mate's aroused state, so Tim wandered down and made an off-hand remark about Jethro not being _up_ to the task of satisfying Tim.

Wrong thing to say. Jethro had swept him off his feet and stomped upstairs, dumping him on the bed. Tim couldn't even find it in him to question it when Jethro said, "I bet I can."

The wager ended up being who went on coffee runs for a month. Tim was losing.

Jethro picked up his pace even more, sliding hard and deep into his writhing mate. Despite Tim's protest that he didn't have anything left, the hard cock rubbing between their bellies said otherwise. "So you lose?"

"Yes! I forfeit! Just don't stop." Tim whimpered, oversensitive but still wanting the pleasure Jethro was giving him. Lucky, Jethro decided to have mercy and ground his hips into Tim's ass, the head of his cock rubbing hard against his mate's prostate and biting deep into a pectoral. Sure enough, as soon as Jethro bit him, Tim groaned brokenly and came hard for a third time, clamping his ass around Jethro's cock and dragging him into ecstasy also.

Chuckling and out of breath, Jethro smothered Tim with kisses. "I hope you won't question my virility again."

Tim shook his head quickly. "No. No, I won't. I don't think I'll be walking the rest of the night either."

"Good."

* * *

End.


	37. Rule Thirty-Seven

_Rule Thirty-Seven: Instruction manuals are not the enemy._

* * *

"You know Ziva, they made instruction manuals for a reason."

A glaring Ziva looked up from her new phone. "I can dismantle, repair and reassemble a Tavor Assault Rifle in less than ten minutes - _without_ a manual. I should not need one to program my cell phone either."

Tim shrugged and continued on to his desk. "Suit yourself."

Ten minutes later, and still no progress on her phone, Tony sauntered in. "What's up Ziva?"

"I am attempting to program my new cell phone. Why?"

"Use the manual it came with. Helps me." When Ziva looked up to Tony with a glare that could peel the orange paint off the walls, Tony squeaked and scuttled off to his desk.

"I do not need instructions for this." The slight rolling hiss of her words would have been funny if she wasn't angry. Neither of her packmates gainsaid her though, knowing she'd do something nasty in retaliation if they did.

But their Alpha wasn't so lucky as he stepped off the elevator and briskly walked to their part of the office. Even before Jethro opened his mouth, Ziva cut him off. "Do not ask what I am doing."

Jethro shrugged. "I know what you're doing. Gonna say you should remember Rule Thirty Seven though." Grinning as he walked past to his desk, he added, "Or ask Tim. He'd help."

Ziva slammed the phone on her desk, frustrated. "I do _not_ need help!"

"With a bark like that, you're starting to sound like the Boss." Tony quipped.

Tony was smart enough to duck when Ziva threw her phone at his head.

* * *

End.


	38. Rule Thirty-Eight

_Rule Thirty-Eight: Your case, your lead._

* * *

"You want me to _what?_ "

Jethro chuckled and gently closed his mate's mouth by putting his calloused fingers under Tim's chin. "You found this guy, so of course you're gonna take lead. It's a Rule, remember?"

"Yeah." Tim shook his head a little, just enough to show his hesitation but not dislodge Jethro's fingers. "Yeah, I know. This guy's a serial killer though, who we haven't actually _found_ I might add, and I really don't want to chance messing up this case. I mean, I'm a good investigator and all, but you're still a whole lot better than me."

"From what we can tell, this killer's human and has been lucky more than anything. You honestly think he can compete against your wolf instincts and skills as an Agent?" Jethro cocked his head to the side a little, curious. "Is it something else that's bothering you?"

"No." Tim stepped forward, tucking himself into his mate's arms. "I'm just not that much of a leader. I'm great at support, but I don't have the strength that you do to lead."

Jethro hugged him tight. "Nah. You just do things different than I do. You're a lot more diplomatic, where as I would just shot somebody."

"So we're basically trading places?"

"Yup."

Tim pulled back just far enough to give his mate a wicked look. "Does that mean in the bedroom too?"

The slightly panicked look on Jethro's face was so worth the head-slap.

* * *

End.


	39. Rule Thirty-Nine

_Rule Thirty-Nine: There is no such thing as coincidence._

* * *

It shouldn't have happened on board the Yard. Tim knew that. He also knew that until the day he died, he'd never remember the mad rush to knock his mate out of the way of the oncoming car barreling down on him while crossing the street. Both shaken and clinging to each other for support, they made their way back to Headquarters, down to Autopsy, the only safe and out of the way place they knew to pull back together their shattered composure and discuss what had happened.

"It might have just been an accident. Maybe the driver didn't see you."

Jethro leveled a stern look at Tim. "Look at me. I'm kinda hard to miss Tim!"

He nodded, swallowing down the lump of fear, and his screaming preternatural instincts. "I know. All I'm saying is, it might not have anything to do with the case we're working."

Gathering Tim close and burying his face in Tim's neck, Jethro sighed. The damn case. His team had been tracking humans kidnapped from their beds and used as blood 'donors' for weeks. A crew, who were stealthy in a way Jethro had never seen, would take requests and payment from a circle of high-powered vampires with peculiar tastes, bringing humans back to be drained dry and dumping the bodies in the Anacostia.

Tying the vampires to the kidnappers was almost impossible, but Jethro was sure that his team was on the verge of doing just that. And vampires as powerful as the ones they were dealing with wouldn't be above murdering the investigators.

A hit and run would've been the easiest way.

"I really doubt it. If it was an accident, the driver would've stopped to see if we were ok. Guy didn't even slow down."

"Ok. You have a point. I still think it could be nothing, so maybe not jump to conclusions before we know for sure?" Tim asked while gently curling his fingers in Jethro's hair.

Jethro sighed again and pulled Tim even closer. His gut was screaming, but if it made his mate happy… "Fine. But if whoever made a run at me is connected to our case, I'm gonna take you home and paddle your ass as an 'I told you so'."

"Deal."

* * *

End.


	40. Rule Forty

_Rule Forty: If it seems like someone's out to get you, they are._

* * *

Quickening his step just a little once he got off the elevator and into the evidence garage, Tim walked over to Ziva, smiling when she poked her head over the top of the car she'd been processing. "Hey Ziva."

Ziva returned his smile easily. "McGee. What can I do for you?"

"Actually, I came down here to help you, if you need it."

"I do not." She dripped her head momentarily to acknowledge his thoughtfulness. "I could use the company for a few minutes. Anything interesting happening upstairs?"

"Sorta." Tim chuckled. "The case is at a dead end until the car's finished, Tony's down in the lab helping Abby I hope, and the Boss seems to be playing Stalk-His-Mate today. Good thing it's just a larceny case, because everybody's got the attention span of a goldfish the last couple of hours."

Ziva flashed a small smile and went back to processing the car, her voice slightly muffled when she asked, "Oh. Why do you say Gibbs seems to be playing? Are you not sure?"

"Well, I think he's been following me all day. I know he's been watching, at least."

She laughed. "I see. When in doubt, abiding by Rule Forty is always best. That way you are not taken be surprised when he does hop."

"Pounce, Ziva, it's pounce."

"It that not the same thing? A person jumps up and comes back down in both instances." The little rolling hiss of mock annoyance showing in her words made Tim laugh in delight.

"Nope. A rabbit hops. A wolf pounces. Our Alpha more specifically pounces on _me."_ Laughing a little harder at the intrigued look Ziva had as her head popped up to look at him, Tim wandered back towards the elevator after giving her a short wave.

Not even two steps into the elevator and Tim scented the sawdust and pine smell that was Jethro, strong in the confines of the metal box. He should have known it was coming when Jethro growled, "Got you."

Jethro pounced.

* * *

End.


	41. Rule Forty-One

_Rule Forty-One: When in deep trouble, your CO is your first line of defense._

* * *

"Honest, I never touched the woman."

Vance shook his head even as McGee added his two cents. "I want to file a formal protest to the allegations. No mate would make sexual advances towards anyone who wasn't their mate. Everyone knows that. She's been pursuing _him."_

"I know." Vance sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "But she brought it to me personally and if I just tried to sweep it under the rug, she go over my head and make this way bigger than it is. I'm having a team from the Pentagon come here to investigate things. If I find out she's making false accusations then I'll fire her."

Jethro and Tim exchanged a look. Jethro shook his head, but Tim was determined. "Won't need to investigate if she recants."

Snagging his mate's hand, Jethro stopped Tim before he could storm out the door. "No. This is part of what Vance does. She's human, so she doesn't know this crap won't hold water." Jethro pulled him closer to make sure Tim was listening. "Let him do his job so he can get me out of this mess."

"Fine," Tim growled quietly. "This takes longer than a couple of weeks though, and I'll set Ziva on her."

"Ok." Jethro smiled crookedly, "I let you, now how about we get out of here so the Director can get this taken care of?"

Chuckling when Gibbs and McGee looked at him to be dismissed, Vance shooed them along.

* * *

End.


	42. Rule Forty-Two

_Rule Forty-Two: Make sure the bad guys know you'd make a bad hostage._

* * *

Hustling just a little to keep up with Jethro's longer strides, Tim smiled brightly. "It's only for a few hours, my mate. Nothing you can't handle."

"We gotta drive for almost an hour, to the middle-of-nowhere Maryland, just to give a class on hostage negotiation that I can sum up by quoting Rule Forty Two." Jethro rubbed the back of his neck then glanced over to Tim. "What the hell am I gonna do with the other hour and fifty-some-odd minutes of class time?"

"Could shift and run it, be fashionably late and, when the Director asks, tell him that of course we ran it as wolves, the car broke down."

He laughed and stopped, yanking Tim closer to him. "Nah. We can do this. I guess I just need a jumping off point really." Jethro gave his mate a quick, light kiss and asked, "I was hoping you had a bright idea in that genius head of yours?"

"Tell them what to do if the suspects take you hostage anyway."

"I guess I could."

Jethro started them walking to the parking garage again. Curiosity got the better of him after a second though. "What would you tell somebody who was trying to take you hostage?"

"Well, if you were on the scene, I'd point you out and tell them, 'You see that big, mean Alpha over there? _That's_ my mate. If you want to piss him off enough to come over here and beat you to death, sure, try your luck at keeping me.'" Tim flashed him the bright smile that melted Jethro's heart and bumped against his side as they reached the car. "I'm pretty sure, once some bad guy gets a good look at you, they'd back off."

The wolf in him rumbled proudly at his mate's faith in his ability to protect him. The resulting strut stayed with Jethro all day.

* * *

End.


	43. Rule Forty-Three

_Rule Forty-Three: When all else fails, stall._

* * *

"You do it."

"No, you do it."

Tim grimaced and glared at Tony. "That awful perfume she's wearing makes me nauseous. Besides, you owe me for covering for you while you and Abby disappeared for a nooner a couple weeks ago."

"Yeah, but you're the Alpha's mate. It's your responsibility to do as the Boss says and he said to stall." Tony gave his packmate a sly grin. "Plus, I cover for you and Gibbs all the time, so that argument doesn't hold count."

"Oh, but all I want to do when I get close to her is rub my nose in the carpet to get the smell to go away."

Chuckling, Tony patted Tim on the shoulder. "And you think I don't? Cougar's sense of smell is almost as strong as a wolf's. One of us is gonna have to bite the bullet and keep her here."

Tim thought it over for a moment. He _really_ didn't want to deal with this suspect, but she needed to stay until Jethro found something on her, or she'd rabbit. Maybe… "We could ask Ziva. Snakes can't smell really good and a human's sense of smell wouldn't be overpowered by the damn perfume." He grinned at Tony. "Not that I'm looking forward to telling Ziva she doesn't do something as good as we do."

"Go get her! I'll make sure our suspect doesn't leave until you bring Ziva back."

Tim nodded and muttered, "Ziva's going to kick my ass."

Tony laughed.

* * *

End.


	44. Rule Forty-Four

_Rule Forty-Four: First things first. Hide the women and children._

* * *

"Tim!" Looking up from his monitor, Tim watched his mate rush down the stairs and towards him. This couldn't be good. "Call Tony. Tell him Rule Forty Four and to call the rest of the pack."

Grabbing his cell phone even as he jumped to his feet, Tim cast a worried look at Jethro. "What's going on?"

"Some nut-job called in a chemical attack on D.C.'s water supply." Jethro pulled out his phone too and started dialing. "We've been asked to handle the investigation, but I wanted the pack safe first."

"An attack? Is the general public being alerted?"

Jethro shook his head, a frustrated look crossing his face. "No, although I think it's stupid to keep them in the dark. SecNav doesn't want to start a panic. The preternatural community should be safe enough, but humans…"

His mate didn't have to say anything else. Humans would be decimated. Considering the SecNav was a human who worked closely with paranormals, he surely knew by now that most preternaturals couldn't be hurt by man-made toxins. His refusal to tell the human populace of the danger was definitely bad. Calling in the pack Beta, Tony, to make sure the pack knew to take precautions told Tim just how serious this could get.

"Ok, I'm on it. But you should definitely call the other Alphas in the area and warn them too, so they can protect the humans on their territories."

The look on Jethro's face was astonishment. "You know, this is why I love that you're my mate. I wouldn't have remembered that until it was way too late."

Tim gave him a cheeky grin. "Good to know I'm more than just a pretty face to you?"

"Oh yeah."

* * *

End.


	45. Rule Forty-Five

_Rule Forty-Five: Clean up your own mess._

* * *

Standing toe-to-toe in the dining room was not how they usually ended an evening, but Tim had brought this to his attention and he planned on doing something about it instead of letting his mate go it alone.

"Look Jethro, I got my sister into this mess because I introduced her to that vampire and I'm going to get her out." The stubborn look on Tim's face would have been adorable if the problem wasn't such a big one.

So Jethro did what he did normally and bulldozed over Tim's protest. "I'm going with you. If this guy has her under a glamour, you're going to need help. And you know the law. Vampires can't place a glamour on _anyone_ unless it's to give them time to escape, just like shifters can't bite except for mating, defense or if your law enforcement. We have to take him in."

Tim sighed and dropped his head onto Jethro's shoulder. "I know. Just don't want you to think I can't handle this alone."

"You can, I've got no doubt about that. But this vampire is breaking the law, whatever your personal stake in it."

Lifting his head, Tim gave him a small smile. "What about Rule Forty Five?"

"Only applies if your careless or stupid. Wasn't what happened here." Jethro tilted his head to the side some in thought. "It might be nothing though. I mean, it could just be Sarah being way too busy with writing to get back to you and this guy is helping her. Or they're dating. Who knows?"

"Yeah. I just get the feeling something's not right."

Nodding, Jethro placed a small kiss on Tim's hair. "How about we go take a look? Just to see for sure."

"Ok." Stepping apart, Tim and Jethro quickly shed their clothes and walked to the back door. "If he's hurting her though, I'm gonna whap you for being cautious."

Jethro grinned as the shift overtook them and they raced into the evening.

* * *

End.


	46. Rule Forty-Six

_Rule Forty-Six: Pain means you're still alive._

* * *

"C'mon Tony, you're gonna be fine." Tim really tried to do soothing as he applied hard pressure to the hole high in Tony's chest. "You heal really fast, remember? All that shifter blood you got makes you hard to kill. And you no Abby will magic you up something to fix you that much fast."

Tony groaned. "Don't lie to me Probie. Look at all the blood!"

Tim chuckled and pressed a little harder. "Yeah, and it'll stop in a minute if you stop whining."

"But-"

"No buts. You can't die anyway, because then I'd become Beta and I really would rather not." Tim noticed that his packmate didn't look like he believed him. Glancing back at the rest of their team, he was struck by a little inspiration when he saw his mate pace as Ziva cuffed their shooter. "You know what our Alpha says about pain, right? So how bad does it hurt?"

"Don't give that Marine nonsense. Of course it hurts like Hell!" Tony was about to start shouting in frustration. "What's that got- Oh."

"Yeah, oh." Tim grinned. "Hurting means you're gonna be fine. Stop yowling and relax. Ambulance will be here shortly."

Tony blushed, embarrassed with his near-hysteria. "Thanks," he muttered.

"Don't mention it."

* * *

End.


	47. Rule Forty-Seven

_Rule Forty-Seven: Smaller numbers does_ _**not** _ _translate to less dangerous._

* * *

Tim looked at Jethro, astonished. "Seriously? How'd we get roped into this?"

"Uh," Jethro started, but stopped, not really sure what to say. Abby had dragged the rest of the team over to their home, even Jimmy and Damon, babbling on and on about needing a bigger yard to play a game. Nobody told either the Alpha or Alpha mate, until they'd been forced to take cover behind a clump of bushes near the fence, the purpose of their team's invasion was a water balloon fight.

Figured.

Worse, Tim and Jethro had somehow found themselves being ganged up on by a bunch of rambunctious adults acting like ten year olds.

"Well, we better do something or else we're liable to lose."

Tim laughed. "There's an outdoor faucet about four and a half meters that way." He pointed off to the left, towards a corner-post for the fence. "And I was quick enough to grab a bag of balloons before we were bombarded. How about I fill them up and you use those fantastic sniper skills to retaliate against our team?"

Jethro gave Tim a playful growl and pushed him down to the grass. "We'll show them what an Alpha and his mate can do. Once we chase them out of here, I'm gonna take you upstairs and show you just how… appreciative I am that my mate's so smart."

"OK." Tim blushed hard and Jethro was very tempted to strip him down right in the grass to see how far that blush went. "But if you're planning on ravishing me, we gotta get these guys gone. So let's get to it."

* * *

End.


	48. Rule Forty-Eight

_Rule Forty-Eight: Can't be too prepared._

* * *

"Are you sure?" Worried, Tim hurried the rest of the way down the stairs and just as quickly went to his mate.

Jethro opened the special drawer in his work bench, pulling out his rifle and a few boxes of shells. "Yeah, Tim, I'm sure. I'm not gonna let some drug-dealing psycho hurt my dad."

Tim nodded, covering Jethro's hands on the rifle with his own. "Didn't say you should. Maybe I can help? I may not have known him for nearly as long as you, but he's just as important to me."

Blowing out a relieved breath, Jethro motioned to the cabinet tucked against the wall under the stairs. "There's a shotgun in there and a couple of extra handguns. Load up what you can carry."

"You got it, Boss."

Even as Tim opened the cabinet, he whistled lowly. "Jethro, you got a lot of guns in here."

"Of course I do. Never know when I'll need them." He gave a small, shy smile to Tim. "Got parts to fix them all too. I'm pretty good at it."

Tim returned the smile with one of his own. "Learning new things about you all the time, my mate." After pulling the shotgun out, popping the breach to check if it was loaded - it wasn't - and making sure both barrels were clear, he started grabbing boxes of shells. "Any particular way you want to do this?"

"No. Go in, grab Jack, take care of anyone who's not supposed to be there and come back here. I don't want him alone until we can figure out what's going on. He may be a wolf, but he's getting too old to be fighting on his own."

"Ok." Loading two shells of buck shot and snapping the breach closed, Tim looked at Jethro. "Let's get a move on."

Before leaving the basement, Tim yanked Jethro into a hard kiss, obstinately for luck.

* * *

End.


	49. Rule Forty-Nine

_Rule Forty-Nine: Nothing is more important than your team._

* * *

"My poor mate." Jethro allowed a soft smile to settle on his face and shifted Tim to lay more comfortably in his arms as he carried him upstairs to their room. The little snuffle Tim made was far too cute for his own good even while he burrowed his face deeper into Jethro's shoulder. He really couldn't imagine loving someone more.

Gibbs fondly shook his head. While shifters couldn't get most sicknesses, for some odd reason, they still caught the common cold and Tim had a bad one. _Really_ bad. Almost flu-like. But his stubborn mate had insisted he could still work, threatening to go on his own. Well, Tim won that argument and was absolutely miserable the whole day.

Finally home, Jethro had just swept him off his feet.

"It's not a big deal." Tim's quiet voice floated up to his ears. "Just a cold. I'll be good as new in a couple of days, so you don't have to take too much care of me."

"Going to anyway. You know how I am. One of my team is hurt or sick, it's my job to look over them." He planted a small peck to Tim's forehead, then maneuvered them through the bedroom door. "Nothing as important as you guys."

"True. Still just a cold, Jethro."

Gently dropping Tim on their bed, he started removing Tim's shoes and clothes before shuffling him under the covers. "Yep. Gonna take care of you though. You more than anybody. So just plant your ass for the next couple of days. I'll deal with everything."

Snuggling deeper in the bed and sighing in comfort, Tim murmured, "My hero," before drifting off to sleep.

* * *

End.


	50. Rule Fifty

_Rule Fifty: Don't write checks your body can't cash._

* * *

"Now, this was stupid." Tim laughed at the glare his wolf was shooting him, despite the fact that Jethro's head rest on Tim's lap. "What possessed you to spar with Vance? And shifted, no less?"

Jethro rumbled, not at all happy that his mate seemed to be laughing at him.

Scratching just behind Jethro's ears to sooth his ego, Tim's laugh died down to snickers. "Easy, my mate. I don't mean to bruise your ego. I just think you lost your mind, attempting to wrestle with a lion."

Vance, as said lion, yawned widely. The lazy sprawl he'd settled into conveying his satisfaction of besting Gibbs.

"And, honestly, you're going to be hurting tomorrow. Sore back and arms _and_ feet. You're lucky this wasn't a really fight, else the Director might've really hurt you!"

Huffing his agreement, Vance gave a long stretch before sauntering back into the locker rooms to shift and dress. Jethro didn't look amused, but Tim was starting to stroke his fur which was making him kind of aroused.

And judging by the lustful glint in Tim's eyes, as well as the bulge starting to grow under Jethro's jaw, Tim knew it. "How about you shift back and get some clothes on. I'll take you home and give you a good _rub_."

Jethro was up on his paws and bolting for the locker room before Tim could blink.

* * *

End.


	51. Rule Fifty-One

_Rule Fifty-One: Sometimes, you're wrong._

* * *

Jethro shouted and dug his blunt fingers into Tim's shoulders. " _Please…_ "

Tim nodded, but only moved a tiny bit harder, not wanting to give his mate too much and possibly hurting him. Not now, not when it took Jethro so long to feel comfortable enough to do this with him.

Impatient though, Jethro tried to force Tim to move faster, but Tim wasn't having any of it. Instead, he spread Jethro's legs wider so he could slide in deeper, going for precision and not strength or speed. The squeeze of Jethro's ass on his cock was heaven, moans tumbling out of his mate every time Tim struck his prostate just right. The expression on his face alone was enough and gave Tim the restrain the needed to keep the pace slow.

"Please Tim. Please? I need to-"

Kissing Jethro quiet, Tim reached between them, palming Jethro's cock roughly, stroking just the way his mate liked it. A little rough and fast and after only a minute, Jethro shouted his pleasure again and came all over Tim's hand.

Only needed a couple more thrusts himself, Tim tumbled down into a blissful orgasm of his own, the strength in his arms leaving as he fell to rest on Jethro.

"Thank you." Gliding his hands up and down Tim's sweat-slick back, Jethro whispered, "I know I don't say it often but I love you. And thank you. For giving me this, I mean."

Tim rubbed his cheek against Jethro's chest hair for a minute. "I love you too, and you're welcome."

"I'm sorry we didn't try this before now."

Grinning, he looked up into Jethro's eyes. "No big deal. I knew you weren't comfortable about it. Besides, I'm more than happy about our sex life." Tim's face took on a mischievous glint. "Isn't it nice to be wrong about something this good?"

"Yeah." Laughing he pulled Tim up and kissed him hard. "Yeah, I don't got a problem being wrong about something this good. I've got no complaints about bottoming in the future. Not at all."

Basking in the afterglow, they drifted to sleep, content.

* * *

End!


End file.
